America: The Home of the Greedy
By Rev. Erica N. Williams, M.Div.
The Rev. Melissa N. McQueen, Many Voices’ North Carolina Faith Organizer, asked powerful ministers to share their wisdom on urgent issues of justice for a new era of challenge and opposition. Throughout American history, sermons by visionary ministers have long played a powerful role in the fight for justice. Intentionally bold and thought-provoking, these especially commissioned sermons embody the spirit of resistance found in truly revolutionary rhetoric. Each sermon represents the sole view of the minister who composed it. For the tenth entry in our Revolutionary Rhetoric series, we feature the Rev. Erica N. Williams’ stirring sermon on the ravages of poverty within American culture.
In 1967, The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave an almost 50-minute speech at Stanford University in which he explained that there are “two Americas.” A year later, roughly a month before his assassination on April 4, 1968, he gave another version of the speech at the Grosse Point High School in Michigan. The speech is one of history’s greatest rallying cries for economic justice. At one point in the speech, Dr. King says the following:
It is tragic that 50 years later, Dr. King’s message for economic justice is still relevant. Today marginalized communities speak of intersectional activism and fusion politics. But mainstream views still mirror those of Dr. King’s critics during his time. Towards the end of his life, powerful forces within politics and the media criticized Dr. King’s social justice ministry. In an April 7, 1967 editorial entitled “Dr. King’s Error,” published a week before his April 14 Stanford University speech, The New York Times lambasted Dr. King for his anti-poverty stance.
Dr. King’s anti-poverty view is more critical today than ever before. There are at least 43 million Americans living in poverty, according to the last United States Census. Our government’s efforts to fight child poverty ranks towards the bottom of the list of economically “developed” countries. The Washington Post reports the following:
It is frustrating to hear our country presented as one that governs itself according to Christian principles when, clearly, Jesus’ message of economic justice is not being followed. In Jesus’ inaugural message in Luke 4:18, he declared, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.” Jesus’ ministry exemplified how we should care for the poor.
“The richest 1 percent in the United States now own more wealth than the bottom 90 percent,” says The New York Times. Or, as leading economic researchers like Charles E. Hurst say, the richest 1 percent hold roughly 38 percent of all privately held wealth in the United States while the bottom 90 percent hold 73 percent of all debt.
Our government and the politicians who control it refuse to create enduring, lasting, radical policies to deal with the fact that a high percentage of Americans are drowning in despair in the midst of a vast ocean of wealth. Worse, state legislatures across the country along with Congress continually enact—or threaten to enact—cuts and rollbacks to social safety programs and public assistance.
So many within our nation are narcissistic and greedy. Even in some spaces of faith, poor people are made to feel inferior like outcasts. Few of the recent presidential candidates mentioned the word “poverty” or the struggles of working class low-to-no income Americans. Rather, many continually spoke of the middle class. Or, our current president emphasizes elevating the power of the wealthy through tax breaks, vowing to protect the unearned inherited wealth enjoyed by the richest Americans.
“In 2014, 77.2 million workers age 16 and older in the United States were paid at hourly rates, representing 58.7 percent of all wage and salary workers. Among those paid by the hour, 1.3 million earned the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. About 1.7 million had wages below the federal minimum,” reports Quora.
These statistics mean that most Americans work jobs that do not provide adequate income that will allow them to meet their basic needs. Despite some jurisdictions’ minimal increases, the federal minimum wage has stayed at $7.25 since 2009. That is why thousands of sisters and brothers from around the world have come together to form the “Fight for 15” movement that demands the government raise the wage to $15.
It is shameful that skilled cleaning, cooking, construction, sewing, driving, manufacturing, and other so-called “service industry” employment involving physical labor is continually looked down upon and misunderstood in our country. Generations of hardworking, gifted black women and men who toiled in these industries with great skill prove that, if performed well, there is no such thing as unskilled labor.
Even $15 an hour is too low. Recent research found that, “if our standard for minimum wages had kept pace with overall income growth in the American economy, it would now be $21.16 per hour.” We have a skewed, inequitable understanding of labor in our country. While the minimum wage is stuck at roughly $7.25 an hour nationwide, corporate managers, big business executives, and members of Congress enjoy grossly inflated incomes and luxe health and retirement benefits.
Our urban and rural sisters and brothers who are low-income, fixed-income, or no-income not only have to deal with inadequate, unaffordable housing, poor educational systems, high prices for food, ineffective and expensive public utilities like water, gas, and electricity, high rates for essential telecommunications like phone and Internet service, and a lack of healthcare; they are also routinely criminalized even when they commit no crimes. Our current president’s continual linking of inner city life with crime exemplifies this.
Dr. King saw how poor people are mistreated in this country and it is heartbreaking to see that the same problems from Dr. King’s era persist today.
This is why America must undergo a moral revolution of values. America must promote radical prosperity for all people.
There are enough resources in this country for those who are homeless to have affordable housing.
There are enough resources in this country for those who are or may be sick to receive outstanding, free, prompt medical care.
There are enough resources in this country for those who are hungry to be well fed.
There are enough resources in this country for those who are unschooled to receive excellent, free, public education.
There are enough resources in this country for those who are thirsty to receive clean, un-poisoned water.
And there are enough resources in this country for those who are naked to be clothed; those who live in darkness to receive the light of affordable electricity; and those who are cold to receive warmth.
And given the outsize wealth of a few and the amassing of money for war and entertainment, all of these resources can and should be given out for low-to-no cost.
In the best tradition of Dr. King, it is imperative that those of us who believe that all God’s children have a right to live with dignity, stand up and declare that we will not be silent against the oppression of those on the margins.
Our sisters and brothers are hurting and it is up to us to make sure that no one is left out of God’s love for humanity.
About Rev. Erica N. Williams:
Rev. Erica N. Williams has dedicated her life to the work of eradicating poverty around the world. Her ministry is based on the wisdom of Luke 4:18–19:
Questions, comments, or concerns? Feel free to contact Many Voices | A Black Church Movement for Gay & Transgender Justice at info@manyvoices.org.
